Documented

I spent much of today attending a filmmaking workshop led by these two wonderful women. (See also the Extra photo, I couldn’t decide which one of these shots I liked the best!)

Sandi Hughes (on the left) is someone I’ve been rather in awe of for many years and often seen at events around town, but despite knowing that we know several people in common, I’ve never actually had a conversation with her until today. I’m glad I’ve put that right now - and I hope to speak to her much more in the future!

Over the last few decades Sandi has documented her life, and the lives of Liverpool’s Black and LGBT+ communities, through photographs and moving images, and has accumulated a vast archive of material. You can find out more at www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/rewind-fast-forward-sandi-hughes-radical-film-archive She’s a fascinating woman - and I haven’t even mentioned her skills as a DJ!

I hadn’t encountered Michelle Peterkin-Walker previously but her enthusiastic and energetic personality was very infectious and, again, I hope this won’t be the last I see of her! Michelle is an artist, filmmaker and photographer who has her own company, Akoma Arts, creating positive Afrikan images for a local and global audiences.

Today’s workshop was hosted by Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust - the community group at the heart of the grassroots regeneration of part of the area known to the world as Toxteth but more generally referred to by locals as Liverpool 8 or L8 - after its postcode. Over the centuries this part of the city has been the most racially and ethnically diverse and also one of the most economically disadvantaged. But whilst it has lacked in economic support it has continued to thrive in terms of social capital and community cohesion - to use the jargon!

You may be aware of the 2015 Turner Prize winning work carried out by the architects’ cooperative Assemble in collaboration with Granby 4 Streets and the local community. Well, that work didn’t happen in a vacuum and much else is going on in the area. Indeed, it was the ‘greening’ of the area through a range of gardening and planting initiatives including the amazing Winter Garden project https://vimeo.com/210955522 which was the starting point for today’s workshop - attended by a great bunch of adults and young people. We all took turns filming, interviewing and being interviewed and the whole experience was very entertaining!

I lived on one of the 4 Streets, Jermyn Street, back in the ‘90s and later spent a memorable chunk of my working life based at Merseyside Somali Community Association’s building on Granby Street itself, back in my Community Development Worker days. So it’s an area I feel a particular connection to, and it’s wonderful to see what’s going on there and to feel the positive spirit of the local residents.

Today’s tune is a tribute to Liverpool music legend Eddy Amoo who died on Friday. Eddy, who was born and raised in Liverpool 8, found fame in the early ‘70s with chart-topping soul band The Real Thing but his musical career began in Merseybeat-era band The Chants, for whom he wrote this great 1968 single, ‘A Man Without A Face’ https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cumc4aeAgus a song which directly addresses the racism he encountered back then and which continues to be all too relevant around the world today.